Six- and seven-bedroom houses in Notting Hill and Primrose Hill were among a record number of properties rented out at £5,000-plus a week in London last year.
Upmarket estate agent Knight Frank reported the number of its “super-prime” lettings rose 34% last year to 137, from 102 in 2016. The vast majority of properties are let furnished.
Brits and Americans each accounted for a fifth of tenancies, followed by Russians, the French and Chinese.
One of them was a six-bedroom house in Clarendon Road in Holland Park, let at £18,000 a week. The property would cost £27-£28m to buy.
The gated house has a garden, off-street parking, air conditioning and underfloor heating; six bathrooms, four reception rooms, a utility room, gym and wine cellar.
Another six-bedroom house, on Prince Albert Road opposite Regent’s Park, was let for £12,000 a week and would cost £15.5m-£16m to buy.
The number of homes Knight Frank rented out for £15,000 a week or more nearly doubled last year to 20, from 11 in 2016.
They included a seven-bedroom house at Kensington Park Gardens in Notting Hill, with six bathrooms, a billiard room, wine room and garden with water features, let for £15,950 a week.
With house prices falling in parts of London, a growing number of wealthy people are choosing to rent – also to avoid hefty tax bills. Following increases in stamp duty, property taxes are the equivalent of three to four years’ rent.
Knight Frank set up a super-prime lettings department in 2015 in response to rising demand. Tom Smith, who runs the division, said: “Demand is resilient due to higher rates of stamp duty and the associated uncertainty over the short-term prospects for price growth in the sales market. A lack of clarity regarding Brexit has also been a factor.”
More developers are offering luxury homes for rent because they are struggling to sell them, to avoid big price cuts, Smith said. Owners of top-end properties are knocking about £1m off their prices to sell them, Mayfair-based property buying agent Garrington reported last month.
The average length of a super-prime tenancy rose to 589 days in 2017, compared with 548 in 2016 and 528 in 2015, says Knight Frank.
Most super-prime renters are drawn to west London. Knightsbridge still tops the list for high-end lettings, followed by Mayfair, St John’s Wood, Kensington, Belgravia, Notting Hill and Hampstead.
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